Qiao Siqi had no idea how he got in, and he was still a little dazed when he sat down on the ground.
Zhou Yilu didn't have time to care about his mental state. As soon as he saw someone come in, he immediately let go of his hand, swinging his arm to relieve the soreness from the pulling, and ran to a distance to close both the front and back doors of the classroom tightly.
After doing all this, Zhou Yilu pressed the switch on the wall.
Suddenly, the lights came on.
Josh discovered that this was not the classroom he had imagined, but more like an exhibition hall. The huge space had no tables and chairs, only small display stands arranged seemingly randomly but ingeniously. On the display stands were various architectural models. They were not particularly exquisite, but they were quite realistic, some classical, some modern, some grand, and some subtle and beautiful. Even he, a layman, could roughly sense the creator's intentions.
However, these models were clearly not very valuable, as they lacked any protective measures such as transparent covers. Instead, a low fence, no more than ten centimeters high, surrounded the models on the platform, serving as a warning to keep out of sight.
Huh?
Qiao Siqi belatedly realized that the lower right corner of these small display stands had the creator's information pasted on it. The one in front of him, for example, had the name of Wang Donghan from Class 1, 2000 Architecture.
As if guided by some strange force, Qiao Siqi had a premonition. He went through each booth one by one and finally found the name Zhou Yilu in the lower right corner of the fourth booth.
It was an architectural model that Qiao Siqi couldn't understand at all. It was a blend of classical and modern elements, a blend of modern and abstract elements, a blend of abstract and deep emotions, and a blend of deep emotions and a sense of alienation. In short, if this building were to actually be completed one day, Qiao Siqi felt that it would definitely be ranked as the number one most outrageous building in China.
"Zhou Yilu, I'm not trying to be mean..." Qiao Siqi, who was about to have an in-depth discussion with his comrade about aesthetic standards, had only turned halfway around when the rest of his sentence came to an abrupt halt, leaving only wide eyes, a livid face, and trembling lips.
Zhou Yilu, with his back to the window, was waiting for public criticism, but after waiting for a long time without any further response, he only saw Miss Qiao's face turn pale. In that instant, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he turned around and fired a shot!
However, it was too late. The zombie wasn't facing him directly, but rather it was coming up from the side of the window. Zhou Yilu's shot completely missed, and the moment he fired, the zombie had already entered the room!
It was too late to put the gun away and stab again; Zhou Yilu could only watch helplessly as the zombie pounced on him!
Bang!
Zhou Yilu had no idea when Qiao Siqi had run over. By the time he saw him, Qiao Siqi had already swooped down and, like a bullet, rammed into the zombie's belly!
The zombie was pushed directly backward and staggered.
Qiao Siqi didn't slacken his efforts at all, and completely knocked him down!
However, he lost his balance and fell onto the zombie!
The zombies were not about to refuse their prey's advances. They stretched out their arms and wrapped them tightly around Qiao Siqi. With a forceful movement, they took the initiative and pinned Qiao Siqi down.
Joschi was very uncomfortable with this position and inexplicably felt a strong sense of shame.
In that brief moment of distraction, the zombie had already started biting into his shoulder!
Qiao Siqi felt a sharp pain and tried with all his might to flip the zombie off him, but the zombie was too strong and wouldn't budge. His knife had already fallen to the ground when he fell, and now it was too far away to reach.
The zombie took a bite but didn't taste any meat. It let out a furious howl, then suddenly seemed to realize something and began violently slapping on Qiao Siqi's mask!
The first blow sent a jolt through Qiao Siqi's head, and in the blink of an eye, after a few more strikes, he was dizzy and his ears were ringing. The zombies seemed determined to smash through his gas mask!
Bang!
Just as the zombie had already missed Qiao Siqi's goggles and was about to knock them off with another shot, Zhou Yilu arrived just in time and stabbed the zombie in the back of the head, causing the zombie's head to replace its hand and slam heavily onto Qiao Siqi's mask.
Zhou Lu pulled the zombie off and helped Qiao Siqi up.
The rescued student, Qiao, was moved to tears: "Why didn't you wait until I was completely devoured before you came over!"
Zhou Yilu had seen people act recklessly, but never like this. His knife tip was still stained with the blood of several other zombies trying to climb up, but he didn't have time to explain to Miss Qiao how much effort he had put into ensuring their safety from afar.
"We can't stay here any longer, we have to leave immediately!" Without waiting for Qiao Siqi's reaction, Zhou Yilu grabbed his comrade and ran towards the door!
Qiao Siqi's mind had already processed the fact that because there was no glass, a steady stream of art school students would be climbing in, so it was not advisable to stay there for long. However, his body reacted much slower than his mind. After being forced to run a few steps with Zhou Lu, he couldn't keep up with the pace, lost his balance, and fell flat on his face. And, to make matters worse, he landed right on his comrade's display stand.
The fragile architectural model was crushed to pieces by Joschi.
Zhou Yilu's heart was also shattered.
"My model project! The teacher hasn't graded it yet!!"
Qiao Siqi scrambled to his feet, enduring the pain in his chest, and spread his hands with a guilty and innocent expression: "You know what I mean, you banana peel person."
"..." I absolutely must find a chance to nail anti-slip soles to the bottom of this guy's feet!!!
There was no time to mourn the homework. Zhou Yilu suppressed the urge to slap his comrade to death, quickly opened the front door a crack, and peered into the corridor.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Qiao Siqi obediently stayed close behind him.
One minute later.
Qiao Siqi's guilty conscience, along with his patience, wore thin, and he urged in a low voice, "What exactly is going on?"
Zhou Yilu had already squinted his eyes as much as he could, but the corridor lights were off, and the winding and unique design of the Luban Building's corridors also made it difficult to see: "It's too dark, I can't see anything."
Qiao Siqi was surprised to receive such a comment after waiting for so long, and complained in frustration: "What kind of lousy look is that!"
Zhou Yilu was already in a hurry, and with this person adding fuel to the fire beside him, he immediately stepped aside and gave way: "You take over."
Qiao Siqi didn't stand on ceremony, raising his chin and saying, "I'll do it!"
Snap!
The world suddenly went dark.
But for the two friends who were used to the light, it was like falling into an inkwell with a splash. Everything they could see was black. Opening their eyes or closing them made no difference. Their sense of hearing and smell disappeared. For a moment, they didn't know what day it was or where they were.
After a long while, Qiao Siqi finally found his voice, though it was still very weak: "The power is out?"
"It seems so." Zhou Yilu's heart sank, but out of camaraderie, he patted Johns on the shoulder and reminded him, "You have good eyesight, come on."
Qiao Siqi: "..."
Perhaps the sudden darkness also hindered the zombies' movements, because for the next few minutes, there was no further movement from the window. Meanwhile, Qiao Siqi, who had been forced into the situation, finally adjusted to the darkness and gradually made out the corridor on the seventh floor of Luban Building in the moonlight.
Unlike anything seen before, the corridors of Luban Tower are winding and meandering, disappearing into an unknown direction at first glance. Especially now, with only the cold moonlight, the abnormal geometric corridors appear even more eerie.
The only thing that could comfort the two of them was that, at least from their position, there were no zombies in their field of vision.
"Should we go to the top floor again?" They didn't know what was going on outside, but they definitely couldn't stay in this room, so Josh remembered their previous destination.
"Let's take it one step at a time," Zhou Yilu said, not daring to make any definitive statements. Who knew what kind of trouble they might encounter on the way from the seventh to the tenth floor? But, "it would be best if we could get over there."
"What place makes you so confident?" Qiao Siqi had been curious for a long time before he finally had a chance to ask.
"Dean's Office."
"Are you sure it's safe?"
"Our dean was invited to be a consultant for a national project this semester and hasn't been in the department for several months. His office is always locked, and no one will ever go in. Plus, it's on the top floor, so if we want to pass on any messages, we can just climb up to the roof."
"Locking the door makes it safe, but if others can't get in, neither can we."
"The door has a combination lock, which was just replaced this year. Once, when I went next door to see the department head, I secretly peeked at him opening the door."
"And then you secretly memorized the password?"
"I didn't specifically memorize them, but I have a natural talent for numbers…"
"Can't you die without bragging?"
"Let's go!"
"..."
Dark night, cold wind blowing through the corridor.
Whether it was because the architecture students originally preferred north-south ventilation, or because something had happened here after the zombie outbreak, most of the windows on the seventh-floor corridor were open, and not just slightly open, but wide open, creating a spacious gap that allowed anyone to enter and exit at will. Now, all that was blowing in was a chilling cold.
But if something really did happen, the corridor is excessively clean and tidy. The walls are still snow-white, the floor is still spotless, except for a few trash cans lying haphazardly on the ground, suggesting that perhaps the past wasn't as peaceful as it appears now.
"Which way is the staircase?" Qiao Siqi asked Zhou Yilu in a low voice.
Zhou Yilu found it difficult to explain clearly to the students from the School of Foreign Languages, so he simply said, "Just follow me."
Qiao Siqi suddenly remembered the other person's classic quote, "Do you think I never get lost?" and immediately felt uncertain: "You don't know either?"
Being looked down upon like this made Zhou Yilu a little unhappy: "I can't speak for other floors, but on this floor, it's my home turf!"
Half a minute later.
Zhou Yilu opened a door to what was supposedly a stairwell, and what appeared before them was a toilet.
"Your home turf?"
"The closer one gets to home, the more timid one becomes, and it's easy to mistake one's own door for another."
"roll!"
Stumbling and staggering, the two actually found the stairs, and even more fortunately, the stairs were empty, like a green passage.
However, Josh's excitement didn't last long; just as he reached the eighth floor, the stairs broke.
Yes, it's broken.
There is no way to go any further up; you can only enter the eighth-floor corridor.
Qiao Siqi was filled with frustration and had nowhere to vent it, so he could only punch Zhou Lu hard.
Zhou Yilu is even more wronged than Dou E; he didn't even design this dilapidated building!
The corridor on the eighth floor was alright; although it was a bit messier than the seventh floor, it was currently empty, with neither people nor zombies. There were scattered red spots on the walls, and both of them subconsciously avoided looking at them, which made them feel less uneasy.
Zhou Yilu's success rate in finding his way around remained at 50%, which meant that Qiao Siqi had to mentally prepare himself before opening any door.
For example, right now.
Zhou Yilu: "Ready?"
Josh: "Let's go."
Click.
Zhou Lu pressed the door handle, which looked like a fire door in a stairwell, and slowly pulled the door open .
What came into view was a very spacious area, three or four times the size of a regular classroom, but without desks or chairs. Instead, thin bamboo curtains artistically divided the space into many semi-open areas, each with a workbench on which professional materials were piled up, some neatly and some haphazardly.
This isn't a stairwell; it's a workshop for architecture students to do their handicrafts.
Undoubtedly, Zhou Yilu once again went to the wrong door and took the wrong path. After working together for so long, Qiao Siqi has become completely accepting of such minor mistakes, provided that there aren't dozens of eyes watching him from the wrong path.
This is a space that is not empty at all.
Two or three students were gathered around each workbench in the semi-open space, and there were twenty or thirty students at a dozen or so workbench.
Now, as the door opened, they all stared at it intently, their faces contorted with rage.
Suddenly, a strange cry came from one of the former classmates, and twenty or thirty zombies sprang up as if electrocuted, swarming towards them!
Zhou Yilu grabbed Qiao Siqi by the collar: "Run—"
Needless to say, Qiao Siqi had already run ahead; Zhou Yilu's pulling actually slowed him down. But he didn't hold a grudge, he just wanted to know: "Wasn't the incident on the weekend? Do you guys in your department have to be so diligent?!"
"The senior students need to work on their graduation projects!!!"
By sheer chance, the two couldn't find the stairs to the ninth floor and ended up in a small cubicle. Zhou Yilu slammed the door shut and locked it, while Qiao Siqi immediately turned on his phone to provide light; their teamwork was flawless.
As the light came on, the large horde of zombie students had already swept past the door. Zhou Yilu listened to the footsteps fading into the distance, let out a long sigh, checked the door lock again to make sure it was secure, and then turned around.
Then he saw Joschi, who was standing there blankly.
Then, he also saw the source of what was making his comrades feel strange.
Blood.
The walls were covered in blood.
This is just a tea room, which can accommodate eight or nine people at most. It has three walls and one door, no windows, and usually only two water dispensers, a long table, and a few barrels of spare purified water.
At that moment, the water dispenser tipped over, and several purified water bottles lay scattered on the ground. Most of them were completely empty, with only one or two still containing some water. Because the water level was below the height of the bottle opening, the bottles remained still and no longer flowed.
The ground may have been wet, but it is now completely dry, leaving only diluted red stains on the dark marble floor, which are not very noticeable.
In contrast, the red on the white wall is shocking.
The blood varied in shade and color, some appearing as splattered spots, others as irregular smears, and even a few faintly discernible bloody handprints.
Everything tells the story of the terrible tragedy that once took place here.
They dared not think too deeply about it, because whether the conclusion was that the students hiding here had been attacked by zombies, or that there were no zombies at all and only people here from beginning to end, it was something neither of them could bear.
Some things exist whether you want to face them or not.
But if they don't have to face it, they'd rather avoid it, at least it'll make them feel better.
Turn off your phone, and the break room is plunged into complete darkness.
With no windows and no moonlight, this place is like a bottomless abyss where the sun never shines.
"Let's keep the phone on." Zhou Yilu felt a little uncomfortable, suppressing his emotions.
Qiao Siqi certainly wanted light, but: "There's not much electricity left, and now there's a power outage, so we have to conserve it."
"Isn't that Lin Dilei's phone?"
"Hers is an apple too."
"Couldn't you have borrowed a domestically made one?!"
"No, this concerns the dignity of an Apple fan."
"..."
Josh sat down on the floor to rest, while Zhou Yilu pressed his ear against the door and listened for a good ten minutes until he was sure there was no sound outside before calling out to Josh: "Are you done resting? If you're done, let's go."
Qiao was stunned, and instinctively asked, "Where are we going?"
Zhou Yilu suspected he had amnesia: "The dean's office."
"Wait a minute, I don't quite understand this logic," Qiao Siqi asked without hesitation. "Isn't the point of going to the dean's office to find a safe place to hide? This place can meet our hiding needs, so why risk going to the top floor?"
"Because you can't see outside from here."
What do you want to see?
"Comrade-in-arms."
"..."
"We're safe here, but we can't track the radio's progress or receive messages from our teammates. It's different in the dean's office. The office window faces the road, so if they get the radio, they'll have to pass by our building on their way back. We can see them just by looking down. Besides, if they fail and want to send a signal for our support, we're in a window spot, so we're more likely to receive the signal."
"Congratulations, you've successfully convinced me."
"You'll grow up when you no longer need me to persuade you."
"You should really meet my dad, you two would definitely hit it off."
"..."
From the eighth to the ninth floor, Zhou Lang and Xiao Qiao climbed for forty minutes. They got lost countless times and encountered zombies several times. The most common scenario was that Zhou Lu would say there was a way, only to find a classroom inside. Finally, Qiao Siqi, in despair, would grab any door he could find, thinking it must be a classroom, only to find a staircase.
The joy of finally reaching the ninth floor was not enough to dispel Qiao Siqi's depression: "Do you even have classes here every day?!"
Zhou Yilu was on the verge of tears: "I always take the elevator!"
Qiao Siqi: "The problem is, can a staircase built like this pass fire safety inspection?!"
Zhou Yilu couldn't stand hearing people talk badly about his college, especially since he said, "Didn't you say you wouldn't complain about our building anymore?"
"But it just keeps pushing my limits!!!"
Whether it was the legendary craftsman Lu Ban who heard Qiao Siqi's shouts or not, as soon as they reached the ninth floor, he gave them a cardboard box for model materials. The box was 1.3 meters square, more than enough to fit two people inside.
Qiao Siqi and Zhou Yilu lived up to expectations. They cut four holes in the box, placed them in pairs on the left and right, and then hollowed out the bottom of the box and crawled inside.
Two people can support one box. The rest isn't difficult, but the legs have to be bent the whole time; you can't stand straight, or you'll give yourself away. Also, you can't move too fast to avoid being spotted by zombies.
If they hadn't been exhausted from fighting and searching for a way, and hadn't really wanted to stop fighting or fleeing in the short term, they wouldn't have resorted to this desperate measure.
At first, everything went smoothly. When they encountered zombies in the corridor, they would stop and wait until the zombies passed before continuing their search. But when they encountered the fifth zombie, problems arose.
They remained alert and motionless, but the zombie also stopped beside the box, motionless.
Then, as if it smelled some pleasant scent, it suddenly took a bite out of the cardboard box!
Qiao Siqi and Zhou Yilu were so scared their hearts almost stopped.
If it were a face-to-face battle, they might not be so nervous. But suddenly playing hide-and-seek, the tension of possibly being discovered at any moment is immense.
Fortunately, the zombie took a couple of bites, seemed to realize the taste was off, and finally gave up, staggering away.
But the two friends need to summarize their combat experience—
Zhou Yilu: "They can smell us, even through the box."
Qiao Siqi: "Tsk, I didn't apply enough mosquito repellent when I came out. What do I do now?"
Zhou Yilu: "It's okay, I have stock up."
rustling sounds.
Sizzle.
Qiao Siqi: "Ah, ah..."
Zhou Yilu: "Damn it, whatever you do, don't sneeze!"
Qiao Siqi: "It's okay, I held it back. What did you just spray?"
Zhou Yilu: "Cologne".
Josh: "Why did you bring a bottle of cologne when you came looking for the radio? I need an explanation."
Zhou Yilu: "A man should never be sloppy. Respecting yourself is respecting others."
Qiao Siqi: "..."
From the moment he impulsively rushed over to help this guy lure the enemy, Qiao Siqi thought he could no longer be a carefree and happy teenager.
It took the two of them more than an hour to go from the ninth floor to the tenth floor, and then find their way to the dean's office. By the time Zhou Yilu started entering the password, Qiao Siqi's legs were so sore he could barely stand.
"If you dare tell me the password is wrong, I'll fight you to the death." Qiao Siqi stared at Zhou Yilu's fingers, his eyes practically spitting fire.
Fortunately, a pleasant "ding" sounded.
The heavy solid wood door opened with a click, and Zhou Yilu and Qiao Siqi filed in.
As always, the doors are locked and closed on Mondays, and Qiao Siqi turns on the lights.
As expected of the dean's office, it is spacious and clean, with bright windows and spotless furniture. There is a large desk, a sofa, a bookcase, a computer, and green plants in the corner. It is simple yet sophisticated, serious yet approachable.
If we had to nitpick, the only flaw in this office would be—
A middle-aged man who was overweight and balding sat upright behind the desk.
"Didn't you say your dean wasn't here?" Qiao Siqi practically squeezed out those words through clenched teeth.
Zhou Yilu was also dumbfounded: "This isn't our dean, this is our department head."
"Why is the department head in the dean's office? Is he experiencing life there?"
Zhou Lu glanced at his comrade, then at the middle-aged man, and finally fixed his gaze on the latter's face. He decided to go all out and ask directly, "Professor Wang, do you really want to be the dean that badly...?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the middle-aged man suddenly sprang up, climbed over the desk, and lunged at him!
Qiao Siqi snapped, "Couldn't you have asked more subtly?!"
Lawyer Zhou was wrongfully imprisoned: "The problem isn't even what questions I asked—"
Teacher Wang, who had lofty ambitions for his career, had long lost all human emotion in his eyes at this moment, leaving only the most primal hunger for his prey.